Frank Rich To Maddow: Mitt Romney Is Closeted About His Religion (VIDEO)

01/31/2012 08:47 am ET
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Updated
Jan 31, 2012

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New York magazine writer-at-large Frank Rich appeared on Rachel Maddow's MSNBC show Monday night and discussed what he believed was GOP candidate Mitt Romney's inability to fully connect with voters.

Rich said that the standard response for Romney's lack of connection was, "he's stiff, he's rich, he needs better performance skills." Rich thought that this was not necessarily the case. "I think part of it is also one thing he feels really passionate about is his religion. He's had a long history in the Mormon Church as a leader, and because he feels, and it would be sad if it's true, that people are bigoted about it, he just doesn't want to talk about it."

Rich added, "It's almost as if he's closeted about his religion and I think that makes him seem fake."

Maddow weighed in and said that her advice to gay people has always been "to come out of the closet if they can if only because closeted people are boring." Rich said Maddow's metaphor was accurate since "just like sexual orientation, religious orientation is a part of your being." Rich added, "he's frightened to talk about this thing that he really cares about that he's devoted a lot of his life, a lot of his fortune to as well."

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Background on Mitt Romney

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Moving Forward

Mitt Romney lost to Rick Santorum in Louisiana, but he maintains a lead in the delegate race.
His campaign also continues to dominate the GOP field in fundraising.
Romney's next stop is Wisconsin, where he's touting his economic record.